Adriano Celentano

Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed ''Il Molleggiato'' ('the springy one') because of his energetic dancing.

Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both commercial and critical success. With around 150 million records sold worldwide, he is the second best-selling Italian musical artist. Often credited as the author of both the music and lyrics of his songs, according to his wife Claudia Mori, some were written in collaboration with others. Due to his prolific career, both in Italy and abroad, he is considered one of the pillars of Italian music.

Celentano is recognized for being particularly perceptive of changes in the music business and is credited for having introduced rock and roll to Italy. As an actor, Celentano has appeared in 39 films, mostly comedies.

Early life

Celentano was born on 6 January 1938 in Milan, Italy, at 14 Via Cristoforo Gluck, a street close to the Central Station and this address later became the subject of the famous song " Il ragazzo della via Gluck" ('The boy from Gluck Street'). His parents, Leontino Celentano and Giuditta Giuvia, were from Foggia, Apulia, and had moved north for work. His career as a singer started in 1959. Before his debut as an artist, he was working as a watchmaker.

Career

Heavily influenced by Elvis Presley and the 1950s rock 'n' roll scene as well as by American actor Jerry Lewis, Celentano started playing in a rock and roll band with Giorgio Gaber and Enzo Jannacci. Along with Gaber and Jannacci, he was discovered by Jolly Records A&R Executive Ezio Leoni, who signed him to his first recording contract and co-authored with Celentano some of his greatest early hits, including " 24.000 baci", "Il tuo bacio è come un rock", and "Si è spento il Sole". He first appeared on screen in '' Ragazzi del Juke-Box'', a 1959 Italian musical film directed by Lucio Fulci with music by Ezio Leoni. In 1960, Federico Fellini cast him as a rock and roll singer in his film ''La dolce vita'' (1960).

In 1962, Celentano founded the Italian record label Clan Celentano (which is still active) with many performers such as Don Backy, Ola & the Janglers, Ricky Gianco, Katty Line, Gino Santercole, Fred Bongusto and his wife Claudia Mori.

As a film director, Celentano frequently cast Ornella Muti, Eleonora Giorgi and his wife Claudia Mori. He and Mori have three children, Rosita, Giacomo and Rosalinda Celentano. Rosalinda is most notable to worldwide audiences for playing Satan in Mel Gibson's ''The Passion of the Christ''. Celentano has also hosted several Italian television shows.

Celentano has retained his popularity in Italy for over 50 years, selling millions of records and appearing in numerous TV shows and movies. As part of his TV and movie work, he created a comic genre, with a characteristic walk and facial expressions. For the most part, his films were commercially successful; indeed, in the 1970s and part of the 1980s, his low-budget movies were top of Italian box office rankings. As an actor, critics point to '' Serafino'' (1968), directed by Pietro Germi, as his best performance.

He has released 40 albums, consisting of 29 studio albums, three live albums, and eight compilations. Among his most popular songs there are "La coppia più bella del mondo", which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc; " Azzurro" (1968), written by Paolo Conte, " Svalutation" (1976), and "Prisencolinensinainciusol" (1972), which was written to mimic the way English sounds to non-English speakers despite being almost entirely nonsense.

Celentano was referenced in the 1979 Ian Dury and the Blockheads song and single, "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3", as one of the aforementioned "reasons to be cheerful", and in Fellini's 1986 film '' Ginger and Fred''.

After 18 years without live performances, Celentano's 2012 live concert was broadcast on Mediaset channel Canale 5, attracting over 9 million viewers.

Personal life

Celentano has been a vegetarian since 2005 and has defended animal rights. A football fan, Celentano is a well-known Inter Milan supporter. Although influenced by American culture, Celentano cannot speak English; he told ''la Repubblica'' that for years he wanted to learn the language but could not commit, and not knowing English is a "real pain".

When the Barilla pasta company introduced a spring-form pasta in the 1970s, it was named ''cellentani'' for Celentano. As Barilla trademarked the name, other companies call the shape ''cavatappi''.This story was related to chef Davide Oldani on his TV show ''Alle origini della bontà'' (24 November 2018) by Italo Bardiani, at the time one of the technicians at Barilla research lab. – http://www.acfans.it/blog/minipost/barilla-da-un-errore-e-nata-la-pasta-cellentani/

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Adriano Celentano con Giulio Libano e la sua orchestra'' (1960)
* ''Furore'' (1960)
* ''Peppermint twist'' (1962)
* ''A New Orleans'' (1963)
* '' Non mi dir'' (1964)
* '' Il ragazzo della via Gluck'' (1966)
* '' Azzurro / Una carezza in un pugno'' (1968)
* '' Adriano rock'' (1968)
* '' Il forestiero'' (1970)
* ''Er Più – Storia d'amore e di coltello'' (1971)
* '' I mali del secolo'' (1972)
* '' Nostalrock'' (1973)
* '' Yuppi du'' (1975)
* '' Svalutation'' (1976)
* ''Disco dance'' (1977)
* '' Tecadisk'' (1977)
* '' Ti avrò'' (1978)
* '' Geppo il folle'' (1978)
* '' Soli'' (1979)
* '' Un po' artista un po' no'' (1980)
* ''Deus'' (1981)
* '' Uh... uh...'' (1982)
* '' Atmosfera'' (1983)
* '' I miei americani...'' (1984)
* '' Joan Lui'' (1985)
* '' I miei americani... 2'' (1986)
* '' La pubblica ottusità'' (1987)
* '' Il re degli ignoranti'' (1991)
* '' Quel punto'' (1994)
* '' Arrivano gli uomini'' (1996)
* '' Mina Celentano'' (with Mina) (1998)
* '' Io non so parlar d'amore'' (1999)
* '' Esco di rado e parlo ancora meno'' (2000)
* '' Per sempre'' (2002)
* '' C'è sempre un motivo'' (2004)
* ''C'è sempre un motivo'' + ''L'Indiano'' (2005)
* ''Dormi amore, la situazione non è buona'' (2007)
* '' Facciamo finta che sia vero'' (2011)
* '' Le migliori'' (with Mina) (2016)
* ''Adrian'' (2019)

Filmography

Films

See also

* List of best-selling music artists

References

External links

Official website
*

Adriano Celentano discography
at imusic.am

The complete Adriano Celentano discography (from Music City)
*
Adriano Celentano – Russian Pages
*
Adriano Celentano – International
*
Unofficial fanclub

Adriano Celentano Filmography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celentano, Adriano
1938 births
Living people

David di Donatello winners
Folk-pop singers
Italian baritones
Italian buskers
Italian dance musicians
Italian male comedians
Italian male film actors
Italian male songwriters
Italian rock musicians
Italian rock singers
Italian songwriters
Nastro d'Argento winners
People of Apulian descent
Rock and roll musicians
Sanremo Music Festival winners
Singers from Milan
Symphonic rock musicians
20th-century Italian comedians
20th-century Italian male actors
20th-century Italian male singers
Comedians from Milan
Male actors from Milan
Clan Celentano artists